Irrational God!

Are you of the rational, logical breed? If yes, then probably you will enjoy it relatively more. How often have you met completely irrational, illogical, stupid people in your life? And how often have one of these folks been in such positions of stature/power that you keep wracking your brains, how in the world they got there? Well, here is one crazy thought – What if our so called God (with all due respect) was completely irrational?!

 

How many times have you been told that what matters is how much good you do to others, and you will reap what you sow. Hence, you should be good to others and that is what really counts.

How many of you believe that stupid rituals in every religion or insignificant and unimportant, and what matters is that you are true to yourself and true to humanity? That the ultimate worship is the worship to our fellowmen?

How often have you thought stuff like – well, I really don’t care if God exists or not. If he doesn’t, bingo! If he does, then he better be all powerful and all that, and hence the source of my thoughts, and hence he himself forced some mortals on the earth not to believe in him!

 

Well, I believe or relate to most of the stuff above and hence the idea of an irrational God does disturb me a bit. We can go on and on endlessly debating why God cannot be irrational and all that. But for the purpose of this discussion, let us assume he can be irrational, just in the way the most utterly stupid Mr. XYZ at your work place can exist.

 

What if God did not value what we, the so called rational intellectuals, value? What if he, instead, valued all the stupid rituals that religion enforces on us? What if he actually decided heaven and hell based on the number of times we took his name plus the product of the number of times we visited a temple and a sanctity score of the respective temple?!!

 

Imagine, I walk up to God after I die and he waves me off to hell.

I protest “But I have lived such an honest life.”

God says “Who told you to be honest? Frankly, I never did.”

I protest again “But I helped so many people, I did so much for others.”

God says “Why didn’t you live for yourself? When did I ask you to take the responsibility of the whole world? Why couldn’t you leave it to me and let me do my job? Why did you have to always poke your nose and interfere in what I was doing? You have been such a pain. Besides, you seldom visited any temples – by abode. Were you super busy?”

I defend “But I didn’t think it was as important as helping the needy or working for the betterment of the society”

God laughs “Yeah! So you thought!! Not even an iota of respect for me. And what about your prayer count, it is abysmally low. You are in the bottom 0.5 percentile!”

I defend “But I thought you don’t need to keep praising and remembering you. You were always with me. (Or that I was busy coming in top 0.5 percentile of a so called CAT exam!)”

God smirks “Yeah right! And the people who prayed a dozen times a day, were they all fools??! And what about that brilliant theory of yours that you don’t even care if I exist!”

I am hapless but manage to utter something like “B-b-but that was so logical. You were the supreme force and you made me that way and made me think that way”

God says “No you fool! You had the free will, your mind was free. You who did not even want to accept my existence, burn in hell!”

 

What would you do/feel in such a situation? Would you regret for a moment about having gotten the whole concept of life, universe and everything (i.e., 42) wrong? Or you would still stand your ground and take all the pains that come with a smile?! Would you be able to ignore the blatant injustice that a religious terrorist who killed hundreds of innocent people ranks higher on a certain irrational God’s irrational scale? Certainly you would not be able to blame it again on fate and move on!!

 

- ANAND GAUTAM

Equality for Supremacy?!!

The Times of India Editorial on April 13th talked about “Gender bias leaves China with 32 million extra boy babies”. One-child policy with punishment for second child and deprivation of social benefits has not helped. A male baby market has developed in China and kidnapping of male children is on rise. This bias and its severe consequences are pertinent not only for China but for the whole world for two main reasons. One, because China accounts for almost 20% of the world population and two, because other countries (like India) do not seem to be taking the lesson. I promise you the rest of the stuff will not be as boring!

I was thinking what it would be like to live in a world where you have a woman for say every two men. Suddenly I realized that I already have lived in such a world – 4 years at IIT Bombay and 2 years at IIM Bangalore! In fact it was much worse than that, in IITB it was around 20:1 and in IIMB it was around 4:1. And I can confidently vouch for several of my male fellow students that it was definitely not a pleasant state of affairs. So here is the key ironical, ridiculuous and yet sensible argument which is prompting me to write such a long story – if for nothing else, equality of women should be granted to retain the supremacy! (And please, if there is so supremacy or perceived supremacy then there is no point in crying for equality and you can stop reading here).

One of my seniors at IIT Bombay after passing out told me, do not make a girl friend while at college. Please wait till you pass out and you will have the world at your feet. Now, I do not buy is argument completely but the rationale behind it is very relevant to this discussion. The kind of “bhaav” (attention/value) a girl gets at an IIT/IIM (hereby lovingly called IIX) is so highly over the board. This was acutely visible when it was 20:1 and less acutely visible when it was 4:1. But both the times, it was very much there. The power a half beautiful damsel can yield in favorable surroundings is remarkable. Her beauty sort of multiplies by a factor directly proportional to the male-female ratio! I would deliberately not cite examples to avoid getting blasted but surely you all have had you own share of experiences. But most certainly and without an iota of exaggeration, we need to shout for male equality in IIX’s!

To the best of my memory, any decent looking girl would already be committed or very seriously and sincerely be the arranged marriage kind of girl. And hence, there would be a vast male population deprived of any kind of romantic opportunities. It was not uncommon for a girl to have double digit suitors, talk about male supremacy! There always used to be large section of boys with minimal or zero interaction with any girl. Maybe it was out of the gender bias, inability or maybe it was just pure unwillingness. Whatever be the reason, the fact is that the time window was a small portion of their life. What if they faced such a scenario life long? Who would be paying the dowry in such a world and who will get burnt in the kitchen? (The editorial also mentioned that in some parts of India, men are paying a “bride price” for a wife.)

There was lovely movie “Matrubhoomi” on the same issue with a very strong social message. It portrays a population bias but retains the male supremacy of the present. I do not buy the latter part, but I strongly recommend you to watch it. Bottomline – be it physics, relationships or our world, equality is necessary for stability. The further you move, the stronger will be the force of nature moving you back to the equilibrium.

Unconditional Love

Does such a thing exist or is it just a figment of imagination of stupid romantics? Even more pertinent is whether such a thing exists in today's materialistic world? Before attempting an answer let us step back and look deeper into this concept - "unconditional love".

Love, probably we all know, so what does the additional qualifier - "unconditional" imply? Literally it means that love is not contingent on anything, it need not be reciprocated in an equal measure to breathe, flourish and survive. It has an independent existence.

On the other hand is a love based on expectations. As long as expectations are met and the loved one conforms to an expected behaviour, everything is smooth. Any deviations and the world is rocked.

Of course, not all expectations are unwarranted. Some of the behavioural attributes can be an integral part of who the person is. Like in marketing, there are some core values of a product which a customer would never compromise on (what is a laptop without a battery?!). Similarly in love, clearly there are certain core attributes which define a person. Any expectations derived from there is understandable. Like everybody loved Gandhiji, nobody expected him to resort to violence, such an expectations was warranted. But expecting him to oppose Jinnah publicly, probably not.

We can probably now see the issues which expectations can rake up. You do not accept a person for what s/he is, but for what you expect him/her to be. Even if we start with a perfect fit between these two, if there is no room for change (which is invariably going to take place), we run into problems.

Interestingly, even core values can change over time, after all nothing is permanent except change! So, in such a case, should our unconditional love try and understand this change or should it just disown the person? I do not know and I don't think there is a Yes/No answer to this.

I must pause here and put a disclaimer. I do not claim to know all about love and unconditional love. I am just trying to put forth my views hoping to get some more clarity. Hoping to know if this concept is existent? Dream? Practical? Stupid? Logical? Insane?

Anyway, let us assume for a minute (or a few minutes!) that such a thing ideed exists. Clearly, it is going to be extremely rare in today's world. Let me try and prove it to you how utterly stupid and hopeless it is to love someone unconditionally. Let me play the Devil's advocate!

Let us say that 1 in about 100 "love feeling" a person has is unconditional. Probability that Mr. A is experiencing unconditional love is then 0.01. So probability that both Mr. A and Miss B are experiencing the same becomes 0.0001 or 1 in 10000. But wait, is it mutual also? What if Mr. A loves Miss B but Miss B loves Mr. C and all that (which is so common!)? So the utopian situation of of Mr. A and Miss B loving each other unconditionally is very very highly improbable. You are foolish and impractical if you let yourself fall in that hope trap!

But, can you chain your heart with the strength of your mind? What if you are indeed stupid?! What if you fall in love and cannot help it? What do you do then? I am not sure. But I believe in what they say - "Its better to have loved and lost it all, than to have never loved at all!" Maybe I am stupid as well to believe in it!

Somebody told me, it is so bad when unconditional love is not valued. It hurts. It hurts all the more when it is not even acknowledged (and that does happen often!). I hope it were the case that such a feeling, if not reciprocated, was at least acknowledged and if possible, valued. The person should realize that he is 1 in 10000 lucky! If valued, then does it not hurt? Of course it does, but it hurts less.

But, but, but, the few minutes I had requested are over and we come back to square one, to the basic question. I can acknowledge and value and all that, but before that I need to know if such a thing exists or is it just a figment of imagination of the romantics! Do I wan to end up valuing something which is non-existent?! I leave it open in front of you all – Do you believe in "unconditional love"?

- ANAND GAUTAM

What they don’t teach you at IIT’s and IIM’s

Undoubtedly there are two sets of learnings you gather at the IIX’s (!) – the superset is all you learn and a relatively smaller subset of that is what is officially taught via the curriculum. Not that the latter is not important, it certainly is, but we must acknowledge the broader perspective as well. What I would like to talk about is this superset minus subset area, i.e. the informal learnings at the IIX’s.

First thing you develop is confidence – in yourself, in your capabilities. Just being a part of such an esteemed organization helps you believe in yourself, it boosts your morale. What you should avoid here is over-confidence and rigidity. Simultaneously, what you also learn, and which is probably more important, is humility. You interact with so many brilliant people from all corners of the country and you are invariably humbled. It is such a marvelous opportunity to learn from them, and it is difficult to do so effectively without a fair bit of humility. What you should avoid here is getting awed by people around and losing your self-confidence. Much of the time you spend at college, you need to balance these two things – confidence and humility. The better you manage it, the more you learn and the more you succeed.

Another very important thing which you develop – not immediately, it happens over the years – is a broader perspective. In IIT’s, you get exposed to the world outside, probably for the first time. You get out of the books and see the world outside. A lot of learning comes from your seniors, some from batch mates and some from alumni as well. You have four or five years to explore things. The IIM’s take this perspective one level higher. You learn about the world in a greater depth, but specifically you get an exposure to the corporate world, the businesses and the various opportunities in store for you. Even if you are very clear about what you want to do in life – which is hardly the case – it helps you a lot. More often than not, you are not clear, and then it becomes priceless.

Another learning which probably can never be over-emphasized is time management. It is so so very important in life, and not just professionally, but in each and every aspect of it. Personally, I was always stretched at IIT, trying to balance my priorities towards academics, friends, sports, dramatics, and several other things. At IIM, owing to a lot more workload, I was balancing priorities within academics a lot more than outside. Nevertheless, the learning was there at both the places, and equally important. There are always infinite ideas and a finite amount of time, life is always like an optimization problem. You need to figure out your objective function (and it varies from person to person), you need to figure out your variables and constraints!

Another aspect where I saw a sea change after 12^th, was in terms of the amount of team play you indulge in. Slowly, individual brilliance start taking back seat and team performance comes to the forefront. It is less in IIT’s and a lot more in IIM’s. Be it group work in academics, be it team sports, be it organizing a big cultural/technical fest, you cannot swim alone. And this is so pertinent from the point of view of your career. No matter what you do in life, your success would be defined by how good a team player you are. IIX’s give you an amazing opportunity to pick it up. They also provide you ample opportunities to hone your leadership qualities, which is essentially taking team work to a higher level.

These few years at college, you develop your personality, grow as a person, learn the importance of deadlines, learn to value time, become professional, learn to balance your personal and professional aspirations, find your dream! And the list can go on and on, but I guess I have elaborated the most important ones.

Can you not pick up these skills elsewhere? While working? Surely, you can. But the learning curve is so much steeper here. I guess to reach the same level professionally and personally, you save a couple of years easily! I would not be going overboard if I say that these few years which you spend at an IIX, have the maximum impact not only on your career but also on you as a person. So, put it in all the effort with all your heart. All the best!

- ANAND GAUTAM

सदा रहेगा कोटा

Had written it while waiting for the CAT-06 interview results........ :)

सदा रहेगा कोटा
बाते करता आया हू बडी बडी, ये गलत है और वो सही,
पक्ष मे देता आया हू अनगिनत तर्क, कोई कसर ना रही,
पर हकीकत मे मेरी क्या बिसात, आदमी हू मै छोटा,
मेरे कहने या आपके सुनने से आखिर क्या है होता,
कुछ भी कर लो, सदा रहेगा कोटा!

किये जाने कितने घोटाले, थक गये गिन गिन नोट,
कभी इस जाति से कभी उस जाति से गिडगिडाये मागे वोट,
पाप की कमाइ खाकर देखो हो गया कितना मोटा,
नेता अपना वैसा जैसे बिन पेदी का लोटा,
कुछ भी कर लो, सदा रहेगा कोटा!

गर जो आप पूछो, जिन्हे नही जरूरत, आरक्षण उन्हे क्यो मिले?
जवाब मे हर नेता एकमत है, सबने अपने होठ है सिले!
बंगला-गाडी, नौकर-चाकर, ईन सबसे क्या है होता?
मैने, मेरे बेटे ने पाया, और पायेगा मेरा पोता!
कुछ भी कर लो, सदा रहेगा कोटा!

मेर सपना ऐसा देश, अवसर मिले समान,
मेर सपना ऐसा देश, सबका हो सम्मान,
मेर सपना ऐसा देश, दिन-रात करू गुन-गान,
मेर सपना मेर सपना, भारत देश महान!

-आनंद गौतम

M.B.A.!

First year at a management school.................already through one semester............going through the grill of the summer placement process....................thought it is high time now I attempted to define what an M.B.A. is!
(And ya, this is my first blog and all that stuff.........and ya, i have been writing since last many years and all that stuff...........and i hope to make this blog page a window to my mind and all that stuff..............and these are my views, you may differ and all that stuff!)

M.B.A. literally stands for Making Brutal Adjustments! This you begin to sense and begin to sense real quick, but wait for some more time and it gets driven into your head brutally. The degree of brutality may differ from person to person, but for me it hit me real hard, and hit me when I was not at all ready to take the blow.

You have to make compromises..........sacrifices.........adjustments...........constantly. You have to balance your professional aspirations and your personal aspirations on a knife's edge..........not even a knife's edge maybe, maybe a needle's tip! And you realize that more often than not, it is the personal domain which gets sidelined. Exceptions are there, but this is largely the case. Now this is all ok and acceptable for people who value their professional career very highly. Even those who weigh the two equally are able to handle it. But what of those who have, throughout their lives, placed an abnormally high importance on the personal front?

You will say that these people should then form the "exception" i talked about above. But trust me, its not so easy. With hundreds of bright brains around............fighting to the core to prove themselves...............you can get "disoriented"..................you can easily get sucked into the competition..........the desire to prove yourself can take over. And (may god forbid), one fine day you wake up to realize that you have compromised on what you valued the most for what you valued the least!

And then you really get disoriented! You have (hopefully) achieved things which each and every person around you values the most...............they would love to be in your shoes. And you..............you would give anything to be in theirs! If only the world of desires and achievements were a free market, but sadly, it is not so. So you end up around people who think you are the man, you are the star. Can you expect them to understand? Probably not, unfair to demand that.

But then there are friends.............the close ones............the best buddies............who probably know you better. That is when they become critical. They are your only support system. If you have invested fairly in them over the years, you might survive............you might smile once a while................but if you havent...............? Or what if they are too busy solving similar issues in their own lives, hoping that you came to their rescue!

And the dangerous thing which can happen then is..............that you lose focus on what other's value. You anyway have lost all you valued........and the pain which it causes makes you lose what other's value as well! So now you become a complete loser!! That is when it hurts even more, and I dont know how to tackle with it. Will let you know, if i am able to figure out how to do that. Adios!